I had to wipe my microphone off when I said that today.
Das Awkscht Fest is quite an amazing gig and one of my favorites. I usually get assigned the kids stage, which I don’t mind, but the festival has a wonderful bandshell with our good local bands, as well as acres of great cars on display. And it’s in a wonderful small town PA park that is part of my history, Macungie, aka, the Great Bear Swamp.
There’s rarely a crowd to start off with, and definitely few kids, so I started with a sound check of Shoo That Fly. The sound man, Glen, knew what he was doing so I kept on playing. I decided to mix up my adult stuff with my family stuff – it seems I have a few of these gigs nowadays – and I’m becoming more comfortable with that.
Early on, Amy and Charlie, good friends from the surrounding hills, stopped by and I immediately dropped into my ‘play for real’ mode. It does make a difference when musicians are in the seats. The weather was perfect and I was comfortable all around.
my recent Crypt gig and the fantastic echo I got, so I tried it again here under the trees in Macungie. I was surprised with the return and then found that it was because of the cement restrooms across the lawn from me. Chuckles from the crowd.
An interesting moment came as I recognized the best friend of my former wife in the audience. I acknowledged her with a peace sign and was quite glad that she had come to hear me play. I was conscious of performing well, to give her a sign that I’m recovering. As I finished the set, I looked up and she was gone. This minor event affected me through out the day, and I think on how many friends and family have been affected by our divorce.
The day in Macungie was much better than I expected. A beautiful day in Pennsylvania, playing music under the grand oak trees in front of old and new friends. And I played well.